a blog about my creative endeavors and life in a northern town

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Quilts are loved by so many and it’s really special when adult children ask Mom to make a quilt. Thus is one of those. The colors are perfect and the batiks are so rich. Sue made this for one of her kids, and it should be well recieved!

I did an overall freemotion feather with a leaf like spine in it to compliment the fabrics. I love how it just added texture.

Love this quilt!
Vicki

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Allison pieced this beauty and asked i quilt it for her. I love this moda fabric and decided an all over feather would compliment the florals and curls in the fabrics. I really love this quilt and its on point! Well done, Allison its perfect!

Vicki

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I started the day out with cleaning up the house and quilting a row on my friends quilt. I am finding that I really like doing projects one row at a time, one step at a time, one 30 minute increment at a time and then find other things to do. Then we had an outing planned. I have been feeling a little under the weather with allergies and a cold but I went. I was thinking maybe I should have stayed home but it was such a nice, hot day and getting out was just what the doctor ordered.

All I could think about was this meme…. because people don’t always get my need to be making something all the time.

We went to Frankenmuth to have dinner and prior to dinner we stopped at Bronner’s Christmas store. Yay, I could walk through it today….it’s packed all year long. As is much of Frankenmuth. We stopped at Got Kilt and The Woolen store. I always find fabrics and such. I was tempted to buy the sock monkey book. I also stopped at Best Buy for a sound bar and Toys R Us for fun. Yikes, lots of shopping! But it was fun.

The gardens are so beautiful in this town. Puts my little messy cottage garden to shame, however, I loved these zinnias.

We had dinner at a pub called Tiffany’s and it is exquisitely decorated. I was able to see Jerry off to his adventure in Texas, he is the young man in the picture waving at the camera, he wants to be a firefighter. I visited with my friends and had a great dinner. Most of us don’t live close to each other and making time together is special. What a way to spend a day.

The moon was rising and the sky was lovely on the way home, you may need to click on the picture to enlarge it and see the detail. Summers are too short, I feel the time slipping away already. Had a great day and I was really glad I went.

Vicki

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http://wp.me/p2VIfM-NU
A few weeks ago I posted how to make the Chop Sticks block on the link posted above. It is a fun, modern block to make and I was using solids and greys for the original block. I love it so much that I am making a full size quilt. But I began to ponder the possibilities of using tartan strips and a dark background. I cut the strips to 1.5 inches to show off more of the plaid. I free hand cut the block on a diagonal and sewed the strip in the new halves of the square. I start out with a 9.5 inch square. Be sure to have strips that are at least 12 inches long because the diagonal takes up more strip length!

The block will be wonky, don’t worry you will square it up at the end. Freehand cut the block in half again across the block with the strip you just sewed in on the horizontal.

Sew the second strip in place and use a pin or wonder clip to be sure the two halves of the first strip line up! Lastly, square up the block to 8.5 inches in a way that is visually pleasing to you, meaning it shouldn’t be centered!

Here is a pic of the first set of blocks started using solids and greys. Have fun, I think this block has inspired me to try several variations. Watch for them on the blog in the future!
Vicki

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We ended our weekend at the Detroit Zoo. We wanted to see the baby giraffe. He was born in Oct and now is a 750 pounds. The zoo has had many upgrades. I loved the gardens and the butterflies. The swamp was excellent with little turtles and birds. I also found a dinosaur…. we went to the zoo and found Jurassic park. We didn’t go in the dinosaur area but it scared the kids, we could hear them screaming, hahaha.

drove by some people racing their cars, too.

Saturday we spent the day at the Saline Celtic Festival. It was a wonderful day. It was super hot but it always is. I watched my husband compete. I love the music, the fun and food. I didn’t see any jousting that took place. I saw some dancing, the herding dogs and all the kids stuff. It is worth the trip!!

Tom hung a sheaf bag up on the standards, a very unexpected thing!

All nine events were contested. Sheaf toss, caber, weight over bar, light weight and heavy weight for distance, light and heavy hammer, braemar stone and open stone. After the day we had a lovely hotel. No games now till the first of August. Plenty of time to catch up on the house and garden. And quilts of course.

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I cant believe how fast time off from work flies. I had a week off from work and quilting. I spent the time with family. We had so much fun just hanging out. The grandkids came and met lots of great grandparents, too. We played and visited.

I did spend some time at a few of my favorite places our master gardeners garden

.

Hartwickpines state park

Mackinac City to see the bridge and get fudge.

We took pictures, watched tv, listened to the guitar being played , watched to USA win the womens world cup in soccer and ate some junk food.

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With a long week of extra commuting, I sewed these blocks. They are an idea I have in using the tartan scraps I have. I like how they are showcased on the dark background.

Keep thinking about Frankensteining batting scraps. I was going to buy this fuseable tape but i spoke to a long armer in the store and I am going to try sewing the pieces, so nice and helpful to meet her and her husband. Havent got that far yet.

Since I had to commute 3 times , i had lunch in the other city. I got sick of going to stores so i went to the old college where i grsduated nursing school. Its so big now. Hardly recognized it! Yep i felt old.

And here is the feathers i am doing on this quilt. Its some of my favorite fabrics. That’s my week. …..